A Different Galaxy
by Tyswhat
Summary: In a AU galaxy, Palpatine finds a boy with incredible force potential, and takes him to be his secret apprentice. Main character is an OC.
1. My Name is Vader

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or anything related to it.**

I hate life.

I loathe it with a passion. Arbitrarily, some people are given everything in life: family, happiness, wealth, power, and love. Those who are given everything are envied. On the other hand, there are those who have nothing.

I consider myself to be in category two.

My name is Vader.

* * *

><p>It is Life Day, the galactic holiday for joyful and festive celebration of life and happiness. Inside a warm, cozy house, a little boy sits at the dinner table eagerly as his mother pours drinks and his father cuts the delicious-looking, roasted bird-type mammal that had been bought and cooked earlier in the day. Overall, an aura of love, family, and happiness permeates the air.<p>

I am not the little boy inside the warm, cozy house surrounded by his parents. I am the little boy shivering outside in the cold, winter snow, discreetly looking through the window to the more fortunate boy. Perhaps it is here that my later narcissism and cynicism is born. On some deep, fundamental level, I understood, as a young child, that there was something wrong with this universe. That such unfairness should not exist at all.

Scooching away, I return to the alleyway between _Jenkin's Market_, a disreputable shop that sold black market goods, and _Grandma Flora's Tea Store_, a cover store for a system-wide crime syndicate that sold drugs. Of course, as a young, naïve child, I knew nothing of such evil. It was only years later, returning to this hellhole, that I found out about the true nature of these stores. For now, they simply formed the alleyway I called home.

Anyway, after going through a much simpler version of the unfairness of life, I laid down in the cardboard box that served as a protection against the elements. I noted with some pride that my cardboard box was well kept and sturdy; there were as of yet no holes or damage on my box. As I lay there, however, the futility of life set in, and I realized once again that it was absolutely pathetic to be proud of a cardboard box's condition.

"Life kriffing sucks," I thought, as I miserably tried to cover myself with what little rags I had as a strong gust of wind blew past.

* * *

><p>For a street rat, one quickly figures out that food is a rather large issue.<p>

"Curse you, you thief!" yelled a rather portly street vendor, as I ran off with a loaf of bread. Barely sparing a glance backwards, I quickly evaded the crowds and sharply turned into an alley (not my home alleyway, mind you) – only to slam right into the bulk of a law enforcement officer.

"A thief?" he grinned, moving forward. I promptly scooted backwards, only to back up into the bulk of another law enforcement officer.

"Perhaps we should teach thieves the punishments of their crimes," said the second officer.

Now I felt somewhat scared.

"Erm, officers? I'll give back the bread and … whatnot. Don't you guys do warnings or something?"

The punch definitely had no warning.

"Scum like you don't deserve such things."

I simply spat out some blood. They proceeded to, let's say, rough me up, before taking my hard earned bread.

"This bread tastes like bantha fodder," said one, spitting out a piece of soggy bread after chewing on it.

They left me on the ground, where I lay for some time, before picking myself up. Limping, I made my way back to the home alleyway, where I collapsed inside my impeccable cardboard box.

"Life will get better. How much worse could it get?"

* * *

><p>Life could get much worse.<p>

About a year and a half after my enlightening Life Day experience, there were rumors that an insane murderer was going around. This in of itself was not abnormally strange. Murderers, thieves, and criminals in general were all commonplace on this planet, being so far from the center of Republic authority. What really was strange was this particular criminal's penchant for… blood. The victim was usually found in pieces before the authorities arrived.

However, as a young child, I paid little attention to these trivialities, as they could never affect me. At least, until one night.

This night was not unlike any other. I was huddled in my box, struggling between remaining warm and keeping my hungry stomach empty. Suddenly, a sound was made at the front of the dark alleyway. Looking up, I saw a drunken man wander down the alleyway. His gait shifted him from right to left, until he was nearly upon me. That was when he saw me.

"Why hello," he slurred, while grinning maniacally. "What have we here?"

Perhaps a little late, my danger senses kicked in, and I attempted to run away. Unfortunately, my childish reflexes were no match for that of an adult's, even an inebriated one. His leg carelessly swept both of mine, sending me tumbling down into the cold, hard ground. As I grunted and struggled to get up, he put his knee on my chest, pushing all of the air out of my lungs, before proceeding to pull out a large knife.

My eyes widened at his knife. A physical knife. Nowadays, such things had been largely replaced by vibroblades and the like, their plasma beams being far more efficient than the sharpest blade of steel. The man caught my glance at his knife.

"Like it?" he spat. "Folks will say that it's worse than a vibroblade, but, to be honest, a nice blade gives a far more satisfying feeling than any vibroblade."

And then he cut.

* * *

><p>Pain. White. Pain. Red. Pain.<p>

It was all felt. I have no idea how long it was, but sometime into it, I started screaming. He enjoyed my screaming, saying it only added to the "fun". He said that up until law enforcement arrived, and shot him. I, on the other hand, was taken to a hospital. It was when I was lying on the filthy hospital bed that my life would be forever changed.

My return to consciousness was somewhat unpleasant. The most notable sensation was a… numbness that came over my right arm. I looked at it, only to see the dirty hospital sheets instead. Looking at my shoulder, I saw the stump of an arm that was cauterized. I had no right arm. I had lost it to the insane, sadistic murderer.

"Ah. You're awake," said a voice. Quickly turning my head, I saw a rather elderly man sitting in the corner.

"Who are you?" I mumbled.

"My name is Palpatine. You may call me Mr. Palpatine."

"Why are you here, Mr. Palpatine?" I asked.

At this he stood up, and stepped closer to my bed.

"You have a gift, one that is incredibly rare among people. If you come with me, I will train you to use this gift. Do you accept?"

Train me? What kind of gift was this? However, survival instincts kicked in after my curiosity. Who cares? That means that I wouldn't have to scavenge for food any longer. It also meant that I may be able to actually sleep in a real bed.

"Yes," I said, with no hesitation.

"Good. We will have a prosthetic fitted out on Coruscant. We will leave now." With this, a protocol droid entered, and helped me stand.

Stand into my new life.

**Author's Note: If this chapter seems rushed in any way, that's because it was. I'll probably come back later to edit this and make it more fluid and realistic. Until then, please review and critique my writing. I feel like there are quite a few grammatical errors hidden in my writing, but I, for the life of me, cannot find them to edit. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Entering a New World

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or anything related to it.**

The protocol droid Mr. Palpatine had assigned me was quite nice. Its name, K-3PO, designated it as one of the high end models of 3PO units sold by Cybot Galactica. What? Even I had seen the advertisements for them. Anyway, after K-3PO (dubbed K3) entered my filthy hospital room carrying fresh clothing, he proceeded to dump said fresh clothes on the bed. After a quick change, while Mr. Palpatine went out the room, we all headed for Mr. Palpatine's ship. And, boy oh boy, was it a nice ship. Silver and sleek. Onboard the ship was all sorts of incredible features. A real water shower? Nearly unheard of!

One water shower and a haircut (provided by K3) later, I almost looked like a respectable young man. Well, except for the rather glaring fact that I had a stump for a right arm. But that would be quickly fixed, once we arrived on Coruscant. Mr. Palpatine had another droid on his ship, one who piloted the spacecraft. As we lifted off from the ground, I felt a sting of fear. This was the first time I had ever been off the ground in any sort of craft. Quickly accelerating, the ship shot out of the atmosphere.

I went to my room for the duration of the trip, with K3 accompanying me.

"So, K3, how long has Mr. Palpatine owned you?" I asked amicably.

"I'm sorry, but I am not authorized to answer that question," replied K3 in a flat tone, which contrasted with his regular varied pitch speech that served to highlight the occasional exasperation I heard in his voice in the short time I'd known him. His reply had also been very odd.

"Huh. Can I authorize you?" I asked back.

"Negative." Again, the flat tone.

"But didn't Mr. Palpatine say that you were to obey my commands?"

"While I am obligated to answer general information questions, certain questions have been deemed off-limits. And while you are allowed to give me commands, Mr. Palpatine is still my master, and he has only allowed a certain level of command to be allowed."

Well, that's… strange. The rest of the trip was silent after that, with me going to bed. Thankfully, upon waking up from sleep, we were approaching Coruscanti airspace. Landing efficiently and swiftly, K3 and I met up in the lounge area of the ship, where Mr. Palpatine stood alone.

"Ah, my boy, there you are. It's time to get that arm of yours," he said.

We all disembarked at the landing pad, which was connected to the _Ranulph Tarkin Memorial Hospital_. The automated doors slid open to reveal our rather cobbled looking party. Mr. Palpatine, in his fine and regal robes. K3, shuffling in with as much dignity as a 3000 credit protocol droid could manage, and I, with absolutely no experience on any kind of etiquette, just kind of being there.

"Good morning, Senator Palpatine," the attendant at the desk said amicably. "Do you have an appointment today?"

"Indeed I do, my young dear. Scheduled with Dr. Men'Soc, I believe."

"Ah yes," she said, as she found the appointment on the schedule. "Prosthetics Ward, room 72".

With that, we all departed. As we walked, I read the names of the various wards of the hospital. Therapy Ward. Infectious Disease Ward. Mental Disability Ward. Soon, we had reached the Prosthetics Ward. We had just entered room 72 when Mr. Palpatine's holotransmitter beeped.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to stay. A delegation of Jedi has just returned from my home planet with the Queen. I need to greet them at the Senate." Turning, he said to K3, "You know the schedule," and then left.

Dr. Men'Soc was a human doctor of roughly middle age, with some greying hair, but mostly still brown. After some checking and prodding, he produced a proportionally correct prosthetic limb.

"Alright, this process should only take about half an hour to an hour or so. You'll be asleep for most of it." Laying me down on a bed, he injected a serum of liquid into me, and I quickly felt my grasp on reality fading.

When I woke, the first sensation was a sharp stinging feeling, which was quickly replaced by numbness on my right shoulder. Looking over, I saw a gleaming silver prosthetic limb. Testing it out, I contorted my new arm into various poses. Dr. Men'Soc looked at my arm for a little bit before standing up.

"Everything seems to be in order," he concluded. K3 nodded, and motioned for me to follow. Getting up, K3 and I left room 72, making our way to the front entrance of the hospital. There, K3 hailed a speeder cab, which brought us to the gates of a massive mansion.

"This is where Mr. Palpatine lives on Coruscant," explained K3. After paying the driver, we got off and entered the mansion. Inside was no less extravagant than the outside. A large chandelier hung from the tall ceiling, which was accentuated by two large staircases straddling either side of the massive welcoming room.

"You know," I thought. "Maybe life is gonna get better."

Little did I know that on this particular day, Palpatine met someone who would define my life for the next eight years.

This person's name was Anakin Skywalker.

**Author's Note: And Chapter 2 is done. Again, this was rushed (been a busy week), so I'll probably edit this later. At the time of this posting, Chapter 1 has been edited to include a new scene. Thanks for reading, and drop a review if you feel like it!**


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